


The Great House Debate

by Lavender_Paige



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts, Multi, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Hermione Granger, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:13:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26404777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavender_Paige/pseuds/Lavender_Paige
Summary: Why does everyone think Gryffindor is the best house?Events take place 3 years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione, Harry and Ron are asked to return to Hogwarts by Headmistress McGonagall to be guest speakers to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, now taught by newcomer Professor Whistler. They are there to promote Slytherin House as it has become hugely unpopular after the war. The trio find that things at Hogwarts are much worse than they thought and find and unlikely ally in their quest to fight discrimination among the houses in Draco Malfoy.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. All is not well at Hogwarts

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stand at the head of the class patiently as they wait for the students bustling in to get to their seats and settle down. They didn't have to wait very long, as the students of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class were told in advance that there would be guest speakers and they were eager to get started. It had been rumored that maybe one of the three would show up, but as they shuffled into class that day they let out an exclamation to see that they were visited today by the whole set. 

At the head of the class, Harry Ron and Hermione were trying their best to look like they belonged there. It wasn't too long ago that they were sitting at these very desks taking this very class with a string of DADA professors. 

This year’s professor is Professor Whistler, who had been sending owls to the trio for weeks imploring them all to come speak to his 3pm Gryffindor and Slytherin class. Apparently, since the Battle of Hogwarts 3 years prior, there had been ever growing resentment between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Harry and Ron did have to admit that they were in part to blame; they may have made one or two off color remarks about Slytherin house that got published in that week’s gossip magazines…

“It’s just the Quibbler!” Ron yelled back at Hermione yesterday when she was convincing Harry and Ron to join her at Hogwarts for a problem that the two played a “heavy role in promoting” according to Hermione. 

Hermione picked up a semi recent copy of the Daily Prophet and read “I wouldn’t trust a Slytherin to remember” said Ron Weasley when asked about Professor Slughorn’s earlier confession that he didn’t remember the battle of Hogwarts well.

“What? Ron said, although his ears did turn pink at the harshness of the comment. He and Harry exchanged looks. There was no getting out of this. They had to go to the school to make things right. 

And so they stood and waited until the class settled down. Harry and Ron looked over to Hermione expecting her to make a start, but she was a bit flustered looking through the pieces of parchment in her hands. Professor Whistler stepped in instead. 

“So class, I told you that the Golden Trio would be coming to our class today to speak to you, although I did not mention what it was in regards to,” he said stepping towards the center of the large classroom. 

Professor Whistler was a large man which was ideal for the years he spent as a beater for the Chudley Cannons. When he blew out his knee in a game a couple years ago he found a job at Hogwarts teaching his favorite subject when he was a student himself. Professor Thomas Whistler was also 90% of the reason that Ron was so readily cajoled into coming in today. 

He cleared his throat, though he was not much older than Harry Ron and Hermione, he was at perfect ease in front of the students. He spoke clearly when he said, “It has come to my attention that Slytherins in this school are being unfairly and harshly treated by other houses, especially Gryffindors. I have spoken about this at length with some of you individually…” his eyes lingered on a cluster of boys and girls in Gryffindor uniforms sitting in front … “but as I have observed it’s not having any impact. I have asked the trio here today because I feel that this is getting out of hand. Go ahead and take it away”

Harry, who was nodding seriously the entire time Professor Whistler was speaking, chimed in “Yes, right.” he took a couple shuffling steps forward. Harry used to have terrible anxiety about speaking in public. The years he spent in his Hogwarts days not being believed for anything he had to say for the goings on of the world left an impact on him. After the war however, there were many days of making statements and helping the Ministry and the Wizarding World rebuild and return to normal after the Battle of Hogwarts. This included many speaking events and speeches to the public. He wasn’t completely comfortable in the three years since, but he had definitely gotten the hang of things. 

“Slytherin house played an instrumental role in helping us defeat Voldemort” Harry deadpanned as he picked a spot on a distant wall to focus on and continued “Regulus Black who was a Slytherin was my godfather’s brother and sacrificed his life to make sure that we had the locket which was one of the Horcruxes that was destroyed and ultimately lead to Voldemort’s death and - ”

Harry was cut off by a snickering comment from the same cluster of Gryffindors. Harry looked at them sharply. “Is there something you would like to share with the class?” He asked, startled at how stern he sounded and immediately repentant. “What’s your name?” he asked to the boy that he had suspected made some sort of snide remark.

The boy turned to him and shifted his expression from mirth to somber, “Damian, sir and can I just say it is an honour to have you come speak with us.” He smiled at Harry in a way that suggested he had a point to make, “but with all due respect, wasn’t Regulus Black a known Death Eater?” Damian said triumphantly as if he had settled a great debate.

Harry was taken aback by this, he didn’t think these kids would ...well speak to him. Usually at these types of things he just said his piece and left. 

Hermione stepped in now that there was someone to debate. “That is exactly right, he was one of the first Death Eaters who joined Voldemort when he was young and impressionable. As soon as he became disillusioned with the steps Voldemort was willing to take to ...purify the Wizarding World, he snapped out of it and paved the way to his eventual demise.” Hermione stopped there to take a breath and smiled. Satisfied that she had made her point, she turned to Professor Whistler as if expecting him to award her points. 

Ron saw that she needed a moment and added “Although there has been a lot of… animosity between our house - ah I mean Gryffindor and Slytherin, I think we can all agree that the war was won by the right side and it's time to set things back to normal.” 

“You hear that?” Damian said over to the Slytherin side of the classroom “WE won the war, the one you lot were too cowardly to fight in.”

“Woah woah there” Ron said waving his hands in front of him as if to swat away the animosity. 

“Ron!” Hermione hissed. “Why are your comments so easily twisted?” she half whispered to him. He looked down at her and shrugged. “I’m doing my best,” he mouthed. 

Damian didn't stop there, he stood up from his chair abruptly causing it to scrape on the stone floor and exclaimed “The truth is Gryffindor has never produced a single evil wizard and Slytherin are a bunch of cowards. I have no idea why the headmistress continues to tolerate them when there isn’t a single redeemable example of an upstanding Slytherin citizen in the Wizarding World. 

Another voice from the back of the Slytherin side of the classroom chimed in “That’s exactly it, isn't it? A bunch of Gryffindor royalty coming to speak to us about treating everyone fairly doesn't ring very true with all this “us” and “them” talk.”

She stood up and strode to the front of her room. Harry, Ron and Hermione stood agape as they watched a tall girl under a mop of dark hair saunter to the front of the class to face them. 

“Slytherins have been getting a lot of shit since the Battle of Hogwarts for a fight that WE in this room were not old enough to fight in. Why should we be judged so harshly for the actions of others?” The girl who seemed to be speaking almost pointedly at the back of Damian’s head then turned her head to address the rest of the class.

“And in defence for the 7th years that year, half of them had parents who were death eaters, were they supposed to meet their mum and dad on the battlefield and kill them? The other half were peer pressured into leaving as well and so what? They were still kids who were filled with years of propaganda for the other side.” 

Hermione stepped forward. “Precisely, right…very good points!” she spoke over the class trying to be encouraging as the students erupted into cheers and jeers over Ada’s statements. “I agree, there is no reason to cling on to the mistakes of the past!” she said trying to placate the crowd

“And your name is?” Ron asked the girl who had found her seat again. “Adelaide” she said and slumped as she sat. “Anyways this doesn't matter.” 

“Damn right it doesn't matter” Harry heard Damian say in a mock hushed tone to his cronies. It was clearly heard by the rest of the class and they burst once more into a raucous conversation on who was right or wrong and why. 

Harry and Ron were deeply uncomfortable and floundered with what to say to the class. Obviously these students were dealing with just as much turmoil from the aftermath of the war as the Ministry was outside these walls. 

Professor Whistler took the opportunity to step in once more. “Thank you class, we always want to strive for a healthy debate.” The class settled a bit when they heard their professor speak. “I think we all have some thinking and reevaluating to do. Class is dismissed for today. Read Chapters 22 - 27 for homework.”

The class immediately broke into chatter about the events that transpired. Harry stood by and tapped Adalaide on the shoulder as she passed by “Adalaide, can you hang back actually? I would like to speak with you.”

Adelaide looked slightly alarmed as she stood in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry suspected she was taller than she looked but she was slouching as she stood in front of them with her books resting against her chest. She had long unruly dark hair that she brushed away from her face quite often. 

Harry cleared his throat “You brought up some very good points. I just wanted to ask you how you think Slytherin house is faring one on one.” Adalaide glanced around at Ron, Hermione and Professor Whistler who was sitting at his desk. “Without the whole class here I mean” Harry corrected himself. “It seemed like that Damian wasn’t very interested in letting you speak”.

Adalaide shook her head “Yes, there has been a lot of hostility, especially from Gryffindors. I can’t say it’s all one sided. It’s difficult not to say something when you and your entire family are being insulted for being cowards.” she said jutting her chin out defiantly as if expecting them to also insult her. 

“I am so sorry that it's been like this, do you have any ideas on how we can help?” Hermione asked gently.

Adalaide shook her head, “I don’t know what's going to help, but I know you three are not it. You’re the Chosen One and his buddies. You’re war heroes and role model Gryffindor students. You guys stick to your own kind. This is probably the longest conversation you’ve had with a Slytherin that wasn’t hostile and wasn’t a professor and honestly that’s the root of the issue.” Adalaide paused and shrugged “I don’t know what the solution is here, but I’d like to use the extra time we got back from this shortened class to do some homework.” Harry nodded and thanked her for her time and she left to join her friends waiting for her in the hall. 

Harry turned to his two best friends in the world. He knew they weren’t very old at all, but what they had been through made Harry feel as though they had already lived a full lifetime together. Ron and Hermione turned to look at him as well and their expressions were just as thoughtful and startled as his. “We’ve got a lot more work to do here.” Harry said. Echoing their thoughts exactly.


	2. Draco Makes the Scene

Hermione compulsively tidied up Harry’s living room as he and Ron made themselves a second helping of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“When is Ginny getting back?” She asked Harry after finding some quidditch manuals a home on the bookshelves.

“Gin’ll be at practice for hours still.” Harry said, wiping down the counter from all the crumbs that had accumulated.

Hermione smiled softly at that. Harry and Ginny had gotten married last year just before her first tour with the Harpies. She was back home for a while now and Harry was doing his best with the chores during her long days at practice.

“Look we have to figure out what to do about this growing resentment at Hogwarts.” Hermione said. She sat next Ron on a stool placed around the kitchen counter. “Those students are the future of the Wizarding World, we can’t just send them out into the world with all this prejudice based on their former houses.”

Ron, who had all but inhaled his second PB&J, spoke up at that. “You know my dad told me we had the same issue when Hogwarts had a large influx of muggle born wizards attending the school one year. That was the year they added the Muggle Studies course as a requirement rather than an elective since it was so unpopular no one really wanted to take it.”

Hermione and Harry looked at each other and almost spoke at the same time. “Should we propose some sort of inter-house unity class?” Harry asked, his brow furrowed.

“Well, the school year has already started…” Hermione said.

“It could be a voluntary seminar class.” Ron proposed helpfully. “Actually, there has to be some type of prize or something, otherwise no one will want to take it.

“Well a prize implies some sort of competition. Should it be a debate team?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah,” Ron said. “You saw what happened back there. Those two kids had a lot to say and no real platform to say it in.”

“Give them a place to state their minds...It could backfire.” Harry said dubiously, looking across the counter at the two of them.

“We’ll need to give them guidance… I could create a curriculum. Oh don’t worry about it,” Hermione said when she saw how they reacted to the word “curriculum”. “I’d be happy to head this up myself. You two have your hands full with auror training and all the events they ask us to appear at, especially you, Harry.”

Harry and Ron exchanged looks. “Well we actually figured you would want to take the lead on this one.” Harry said slowly as if he was hesitating to get to his actual point.

Ron picked up for him, “The thing is, Hermione,” he turned towards her and continued, “You heard what the students said. They’re not going to take you seriously if we send just you. We think that there should be equal house representation between the two houses that are especially at odds.”

“Right, so we’ll ask someone from Slytherin to join me.” Hermione looked at the two boys, confused why they kept looking away. “What? Did you already have someone in mind?”

She took their awkward silence to mean yes.

“Who? Who do you think should teach the class with me?”

\---

Draco Malfoy woke up like he did everyday precisely at 8am. It actually didn’t matter what time he fell asleep the night before, he always managed to wake up at 8am. Showered and dressed casually for the day in a black button up and black slacks he headed down to breakfast.

Draco sauntered down the steps of his two story flat. He had moved in here just after his dad was sentenced to life in Azkaban and his mother had decided to flee to America. She didn’t like his use of the word “flee” when she was imploring him to join her. Draco just didn’t see that as a possibility.

He didn’t want to start over and forget. He wanted to graduate from Hogwarts, just like his dad and grandfather and generations of Malfoys did. Usually after they graduate from Hogwarts, the Malfoys would get their portrait painted and hung up in the two story library to join the rest of their relatives’s portraits who had done the same. That’s what Draco wanted. So he studied shut away at home while the Wizarding World worked hard to repair itself. He emerged now and again immediately following the battle to attend the openings of the new ministry buildings his mother had built in an effort to “restore the Malfoy name”. They also donated extensively to rebuild Hogwarts though Headmistress McGonnogal drew the line on having any of the buildings bear their names.

Draco couldn’t fault her for that. He couldn’t fault anyone for the reputation garnered by his family.

About a year to the day after the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco took his N.E.W.T.S. exam and passed. He called the family painter to have his portrait painted and had them hang it in its place next to his father’s in the library. Usually it would be unveiled at a grand graduation party, but Draco has yet to even see the final portrait. He moved out of Malfoy manor shortly after passing the test; his parents had left and he couldn’t stand being in the Manor alone anymore.

He crossed the living room of a minimal yet obviously expensively designed flat and sat at a round glass table off of the kitchen where a copy of the Daily Prophet and his breakfast were waiting for him. His house elf, Tina, was already off for the day as he only employed her part time. It was just him by himself after all.

Usually after breakfast he retired to his office to get some writing done. In fact most of the day he spent writing. It was a suggestion from his therapist at first. She implored him to write about his experiences since the Dark Lord returned. She thought it would help him make sense of his past now that he was older. She was trying to excuse his behavior away by claiming that he was young and didn’t know what he was doing. Draco almost laughed at that. They both knew that wasn’t the case, not entirely.

Today was a bit different however. Today was the day that he had a meeting with The Golden Trio themselves.

Well two of them anyways. He smiled to himself thinking how Potter must have immediately rejected the idea of meeting with him. He looked over the front page of the Daily Prophet where the three were inescapably on the front cover. He suspected that today’s story was the reason they were having this meeting. The front line flashed "GOLDEN TRIO FAIL TO REACH THE STUDENTS." 

Draco had heard from his circle of contacts that Slytherins were having a rough go at it since the war ended. He wasn’t surprised. History is always kind to the victor. After about an hour and a half of reading the paper and failing to solve the crossword puzzle on the back, he headed over to his fireplace and threw a bit of floo powder in.

He stepped in and said “Diagon Alley” clearly.

After a flash of smoke, Draco was greeted by the loud bustle of the coffee shop and looked around for his 2 former classmates. He spotted Granger first. In an immediate flashback to their school days he saw that she was bickering with Weasley and trying not to be obvious about it. Hermione looked as tightly wound as ever as she glanced over her shoulder and at her watch presumably on the lookout for him. He was struck by how calm Weasley seemed. He was sipping some sort of iced drink with a fair amount of whipped cream on top. His shoulders were relaxed and he was leaning back in his chair. Draco internally chafed at the red sweater he wore. Did they always have to look like Gryffindor mascots?

They finally spotted him and looked startled as if it wasn’t their idea to have this meeting. He approached them with a bit of nervous energy and cleared his throat before he spoke, “Granger. Weasley.” He said nodding to each of them before taking the empty third chair at the round table.

“Malfoy.” Ron said matching his tone and looking at Hermione who just gave him a smile and a nod.

They sat in silence for a moment while each one understood that this was the weirdest moment they had ever been in. And considering who these three people were, that was saying a lot.

Ron finally cleared his throat when he realized that it was up to him to get this show on the road. 

“Well. Malfoy, I assume you’re wondering why we asked for a meeting with you.”

“You already said in your letter that this is about strengthening Slytherin’s image since the war essentially painted everyone in my former house to be one dimensional evil caricatures of Death Eaters in training. I’m just here to hear out your crazy plan to make that happen because our publicist thought it would be a good idea.”

“Of course you have a publicist ” Hermione said, realizing the solution to a problem that had been bothering her for months “Explains how your family keeps getting on the front page of the prophet for all that philanthropy.”

Draco raised his eyebrow at her and smirked at her reaction. “Yes, my family hired a firm to consult on how to manage our public image in the war’s aftermath.”

“Well, this should go a long way to that end.” Ron said shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

“The thing is Malfoy, all is not well at Hogwarts. The houses are struggling in the war’s aftermath, especially between our former houses.” Hermione said facing him. “We are proposing a House Unity class taught by two alumni of houses with the most strained relationship.

“And you expect me to teach it with who exactly?” Draco asked, looking between them curiously.

“Well, with me.” Hermione said and met Draco’s gaze head on. They held eye contact for a moment before Hermione looked away and down at her tea cup.

"How exactly would this work? Classes have already started for the term." Draco asked the two.

"It would be an elective seminar class. We're thinking just 6 weeks until the winter break. It's bound to spell good press for you as that does seem to be your goal these days.”

Draco looked at the two of them “I see how this would benefit me...but how exactly does it benefit you?”

Ron and Hermione looked at each other and then back to Draco.

“Well, we think it would hold a certain amount of weight if you and I taught the class since our rivalry was so… public.” Hermione said carefully. "It would show that it is possible to make amends between two people who went through the war on opposite sides." 

Draco rolled his eyes. Just like a Gryffindor to want to lead by example.

The waiter came by at that moment to ask for Draco’s order.

“I’m all set, thanks. I won’t be staying long.” Draco said dismissively. The waiter was about to leave when Ron spoke up to call him back.

“Eh, have a drink, Malfoy. We have a lot more to discuss."

Draco raised an eyebrow at that, but complied. After ordering a double espresso, they carried on.


	3. On the Road Again

“Malfoy”

“Granger”

When Hermione and Draco had arrived at the train station, they greeted each other formally and boarded the train. Since the semester had already started a couple weeks ago, they had the Hogwarts Express to themselves. 

Hermione entered first and was just about to ask Draco which compartment he would like to sit in when she turned back and saw that he had slid into the first compartment and was shutting the door behind him. 

‘Ok then’, she thought, a bit embarrassed at her assumption that they would ride together to Hogwarts as if they were old friends. 

The rest of the meeting at the Three Broomsticks went surprisingly well. Ron was absolutely committed to keeping the peace between them as they discussed the general terms of the class they were to teach. 

Hermione had to admit that Ron had matured drastically in the time after the Battle of Hogwarts. He and Harry got jobs as aurors and were instrumental in rounding up the rest of the Death Eaters and their various accomplices. The process had made Ron much more introspective. 

Hermione ducked into the next compartment and plopped down. She looked out the window and thought of the last time she was on this train. She hadn’t had to ride to Hogwarts alone since her first year. After that, she was always with Harry and Ron.

She looked out the window wistfully, thinking of early last year when her and Ron had tried to make a go of it. They had kissed during the battle and she thought this was it; ‘I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.’ she thought in a quote from one of her favorite poems.

The rest of the train ride passed without incident. When they got to the train station, they disembarked and found the carriages that took them the rest of the way to the castle. 

Hermione and Draco hesitated for a moment before they got into the carriage. Hermione bristled against the frost in the air and determined she was not going to stand in the cold any longer. She stepped up into the carriage and plopped down on the far opposite side, leaving Draco plenty of room to join her. Draco looked around as if to search for another carriage and finding none, he joined her. 

The therstral lurched forward and they were off. Hermione had never been so aware that her and Draco had never been alone like this before. 

“These carriage rides did always slog on.” Draco said, his words cutting the deafening silence between them.

“Really? I never found that to be the case.”

“Well you didn't have Crabbe and Goyle for company. Not the most sparkling conversation really”

They laughed suddenly and it was colored by a slight relief at having something normal to do. 

There was a silence and Hermione allowed her burning curiosity to get the better of her.

“Why did you agree to do this?” 

“I told you and Weasley why-”

“Right, because you want to better the Malfoy name and all that. My question is why” Hermione took a breath before continuing, “Why do you want to accomplish that? Your father is going to be gone for a long time and your mother is in the States now, why not follow her and start over? Get a fresh start in a Wizarding community that doesn't know you?”

Draco turned and faced Hermione. She had a quizzical look on her face during her line of questioning but froze when their eyes met. 

“What do my motivations matter when I’ve already agreed to be here?” he said sharply. 

Hermione tensed against his words, feeling that she had skated too far out on the thin ice of their uneasy truce. She decided to proceed with caution.

“They matter to me. We are going to be working closely together and I think it's important to get to know each other to present a unified front for the students.”

“I disagree. We’re both adults now. I trust that we can find a way to keep it professional without all of… that.” Draco said gesturing vaguely as if he was swatting the very thought away.

Hermione chafed internally. What was she even trying to accomplish here? “You’re right,” she said briskly. “There’s no need for questions at all. We’re just teaching a class about unity no need to get to know one another.” She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her tone but failed. 

He gave her a look, but didn’t respond. They rode the rest of the way to Hogwarts in silence

~~~

When they arrived at the castle Draco nerves were definitely starting to get the best of him. He started feeling anxious as soon as he got on the train. He hadn’t set sight on Hogwarts since the final battle. The grounds were still in recovery but the walls were intact for the first time in years. Thanks in no small part to contributions he made now that he was in charge of the Malfoy estate. 

As Draco and Hermione approached the steps he felt another wave of uncertainty. He looked up and saw Headmistress McGonagall standing in the doorway. His heart dropped. He was sure she was there to tell him that he wasn’t welcome here anymore. That he should turn back. Did he think he could just walk back into Hogwarts, into his old life when he had messed up so badly? 

Instead, she raised her arms to them in a wave and broke into a smile. “Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy. Now isn’t this a rare pair to see walking side by side?” she said. Draco could have been mistaken but she seemed to be enjoying their apparent discomfort at being addressed like that. 

“You didn’t have to meet us” Hermione said graciously as she was ushered in. Draco couldn’t help but notice how at ease she was. Hermione Granger confidently walked into Hogwarts with her head held high. She belonged here; invited in with open arms and fawned over. The smartest witch in our class. 

“Mr. Malfoy, will you be joining us inside or would you like to stand in the doorway all night?” The Headmistress smiled as Draco nodded to her in greeting and stepped inside the warm light of the familiar castle. 

“Now I wanted to meet you here personally because I need to escort you to the teacher’s quarters you’ve been assigned to. I must warn you ahead of time, since this was a last minute add on class we have had to figure your accommodations out rather quickly…”

She trailed off as she walked briskly down corridors and hallways Draco did not remember ever noticing when he was a student. He was just wondering if there was a charm that kept nosey kids from wandering into teacher’s lounges when they stopped abruptly at a tapestry of a giant lake filled with lily pads. Mcgonagall cleared her throat and said “ginger peach” in a clear voice. The tapestry lifted up like a curtain to reveal a small staircase. 

Draco, Hermione and McGonagall crossed the threshold into a small but fairly spacious sitting area. The fireplace was in the middle with some comfy arm chairs and couches facing it. All four house colors were proudly displayed in the decor. Floor to ceiling bookshelves covered the walls with textbooks on what seemed like every subject taught at Hogwarts and then some. 

Hermione and Draco took in their surroundings as McGonagall stepped into the middle of the room. “This is the common area you both will share. Ms. Granger, your room is through this door to the right.” she gestured to the room located on the right side of the fireplace. “And Mr. Malfoy, your room is just through here.” she said, pointing out the door to the left side of the fireplace. 

“I didn’t realize that teachers shared quarters.” Hermione said. Draco thought that he heard a bit of trepidation in her voice. 

“The ones that teach temporary classes for a short period of time certainly do. Especially when all other quarters in the castle are taken.” Did Draco imagine it or did McGonagall sound a bit apologetic?

The Headmistress stood in the front of the room and looked like she was wrestling within herself to tell them something. “I want to thank the both of you for rising to this situation. It’s only been a few short years since the Battle of Hogwarts; the 7th year students were very young at the time but still remember the turmoil well. It’s left Slytherin isolated like never before. Less and less first year students have been sorted into Slytherin ever since.” She looked from Draco to Hermione and sighed. “We’ve had plenty of owls from parents asking to remove the house altogether… and with the fewer number of students combined with the bad press… well I may just have to comply.”

Draco sat heavily in an armchair next to the fire while he processed this. He knew that things were bad, but didn’t realize it had come to this.

“This is obviously strictly confidential information for now. I will not be making a decision until the end of the term. I will take the Unity class progress as an indicator on how to move forward. All I know is that things cannot go on the way they are now”

Draco was lost in his thoughts at the implications of the Headmistress’s words. He heard Hermione and McGonnagall continue to discuss the subject.. 

Suddenly, the Headmistress cut off Hermione’s rapid stream of questions by speaking loudly over her; “Miss Granger, I’m sure you’re very tired. Why don’t you retire to your room and get settled in?” She said pointedly. Hermione was startled by the request but took a hint and scrambled to gather her bags. She tossed a quick “goodnight” over her shoulder before scurrying through her bedroom door and closing it firmly behind her. 

Always the teacher’s pet. Draco thought to himself, eyes following her across the room until she disappeared behind her door. He then turned his attention to McGonnagal, standing over him in front of the fireplace in the center of the room. “Anything on your mind, Headmistress?”

“I did want to speak to you for a moment alone, Mr. Malfoy.” McGonagall sat at the couch adjacent to Draco. “While I do understand that you have been acquitted of any wrongdoing during the Death Eater Trials, I do have to admit that it was not an easy decision to have you come back to teach.”

Draco’s stomach clenched. Was she sending him packing? 

She softened her tone as she continued, Your recent efforts to regain trust have not gone unnoticed and this class will go a long way to better your reputation...but I hope that's not the only reason why you agreed…” McGonagall gave him a piercing look as if she could read the truth on his face. Draco wouldn’t put it entirely past her. 

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, well aware of the fact that this would make the second time today that someone questioned his motives to teach this class. 

As he struggled to come up with a suitable response, McGonagall abruptly stood up. “In any case Mr. Malfoy, just know that I expect exemplary behavior from you and nothing less.” she said sternly. “Goodnight”

And just like that she strode out of the room almost before her robes had a chance to whip behind her. Draco sat for a while longer staring into the fire before gathering his things and heading into his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hermione uses a quote in this chapter from W. H. Auden's poem “Funeral Blues”


	4. The First Class

Hermione and Draco stand at the front of the class as the students file in slowly. The class includes four seventh year students from each house. Hermione looks over her notes once more to make sure the class syllabus is deprived of all typos and today’s assignment is ready to go. She takes solace in her neat hand-writing over the scrolls that she would dispense and takes a steadying breath. She’s never really taught a class outside of Dumbledore’s Army. Despite that she felt confident; after the war Hermione felt that she can be thrown into any situation and be able to figure it out as she goes. 

She looked over at Malfoy and nodded. They had prepared their lessons mostly over owls in the days prior and this was their first class implementing all their ideas. Draco stood and addressed the class.

“Good morning class, I’m Professor Malfoy formerly of Slytherin house and this is Professor Granger, who as you may already know is formerly Gryffindor-” as Draco introduced Hermione a titter ran through the class. Most of these students had memories of the Golden Trio always lurking around and up to something right until the Battle of Hogwarts. The three were nothing short of celebrities within these walls and in the Wizarding community at large for being instrumental at defeating Voldemort. Draco cleared his throat pointedly and the class fell back to silence. 

Hermione stood and continued on, “It is no coincidence that Malfoy, erm I mean- Professor Malfoy and myself volunteered to teach this class. We are well aware of the rivalry that exists not just between the 4 houses but between Slytherin and the rest of the houses.” Hermione paused and heard Damian in the front row snort rather loudly at that.

“Anything you wanted to add Mr. Dumont?” she said loudly. Damian blanched at being singled out and Hermione got the impression that he was not used to it.

Damian murmured some words of apology and fell quiet. Hermione continued, “The goal of this class is to show our classmates that though we are all fond and loyal to our houses, we are all still Hogwarts students and therefore tied together. 

Draco rolled his eyes at Hermione’s heartfelt declarations, but pressed on. “Yes, well said... Now, for our first class, we will be starting light with a discussion question. Pair up with someone in a different house from yourself and ask the other person “what traits commonly found in another house do you see in yourself?” 

Hermione caught Damian’s attention while he was searching out a girl who had been snickering with him earlier and interrupted him. “Mr. Dumont, why don’t we pair you up with Ms. Murphy here?” Hermione smiled sweetly as both Damian and Adalaide looked at each other in complete and utter horror. 

The class was a bustle while students re-arranged themselves with their partners and began discussing the prompt. Hermione and Draco walked around the class monitoring the discussion and keeping the students on subject. After a couple minutes of adolescent awkwardness, the class settled into conversations with one another about their commonalities.

“I don’t sleep with a candle burning anymore...I think that’s pretty brave” a Hufflepuff girl by the name of Agnus said to her Gryffindor partner, Terry who was nodding encouragingly. “I did that too when I first got here. We were only 11 to be fair.”

“Oh, I meant I only gave it up last month…”

“Honestly I love a good book by the fireplace” said a Gryffindor boy to a delighted Ravenclaw girl. “You read for fun?!” What are you reading right now?” She asked curiously. He pulled out a well worn novel from his book bag to show her.

Hermione smiled and was already congratulating herself on a wonderful first class when she heard Adalaide and Damian raised voices. 

“- I don’t know, I like snacks. Does that make me like Hufflepuffs?” Adalaide asked Damian snidely. 

“Well you're a half-blood so I don’t know what that makes you, but it's not very Slytherin”. Damian retorted. 

Hermione saw Adalaide pale a couple shades and her eyes grow wide. “How...who told you that?”

Damian was obviously pleased with this reaction and raised his voice as he said “What, is it a secret or something?”

Hermione saw that the students were starting to glance over at them curiously. 

“I believe that’s enough discussion for today!” Draco's voice came from the front of the classroom. Hermione turned to him in surprise trying to figure out why he was cutting the lesson time short. She tried to act like this was all a part of their plan as she walked back to the front of the class to join Draco where he stood in front of the chalkboard. A self writing piece of chalk was scribbling something on the board. By the time she stood next to Draco she saw that it said “Questions?”

Hermione and Draco exchanged a small look which she hoped conveyed her inner thoughts: why are you going rogue?”

Draco ignored her and addressed the class, “Great job everyone! I think that’s a good stopping point for now. I wanted to open up the discussion to ask everyone if you have any questions for Professor Granger and I-”

Before he could really finish about half a dozen hands shot up in the air. 

Hermione looked over at Draco with a dubious look on her face. “Well Malfoy, as this was your idea, I’ll let you pick the first question,” Hermione said, still wondering how they had gotten so off track.

Draco cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair before selecting Agnus.

“When did you two become friends?” she asked, unable to keep the curiosity from her voice.

A single brow lifted as Draco processed the question. “We’re not exactly what you would call friends.” he said without thinking it though. “But we get along well enough now than we have in the past.” 

‘Technically true’. Hermione thought, glad that he had answered the question tactfully. She then expertly fielded some questions about Harry, like, ‘is he really nice or is it all for show’, and ‘what is it like being friends with The Chosen one’? 

Hermione was very used to questions like this and rattled off her politically safe, well rehearsed answers with ease. She saw Ada’s hand go up and called on her, “Professor Granger, Have you ever dated anyone outside your house...like let's say in Slytherin?”

Hermione felt the heat rush to her face. These students were really out for blood today.

“Not specifically in Slytherin no, but I -”

Ada cut her off “ - so you’ve never dated outside of your house nor do you have anyone you can call a friend in Slytherin, but you expect to teach us to put aside our differences to all get along? Do I have that right?”

Hermione decided to go for Draco’s earlier approach of a technical truth; “Malfoy and I may not be good friends, but we have deep respect for academia, even in our school days and that led us both back here to Hogwarts.” 

Damian spoke up, “Right, I always call my friends by their last names. Classic sign of camaraderie” his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Well at least they’re on the same side about something. Hermione thought as she saw Damian and Ada exchange smirks.

“Excuse me professor, but is it true that you both have set aside your differences? You were on opposite sides of the war. Perhaps it would help if you shared with us how you did it?”, Terry asked.

Hermione was genuinely at a loss here as she remembered Malfoy’s words from yesterday; something about not needing to get to know each other to pull this off? These kids smelled blood and now they were closing in on them.

“Professor Malfoy, why don't you take this one?” she said through gritted teeth. The look on his face portrayed that the irony was not lost on him.

Draco stalled for a minute by raking his hair out of his face, though it did not matter and the longish strands fell right back into his eyes. “Grang- erm - I mean, Hermione and I have known each other for many years since we were kids and she is already making waves at the Ministry of course, she is one of the brightest witches of our age, so that’s expected -” Draco was aware that he is word vomiting the first thing that comes to mind but doesn't seem able to stop.

Hermione took pity and cut in then to try to help “-and I know that Draco graduated top of his class and has devoted himself to philanthropic efforts to rebuild the wizarding world after the war” She took care to remember to use his first name. Was this the first time she had done so?

Damian broke the silence; “For two people who insist they aren't friends you sure do know a lot about each other” he sniggered with Terry.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much” someone said and the class broke out into barely suppressed laughter.

“Weren’t they photographed in Berlin over the holidays last year?” someone said in a stage whisper heard clearly throughout the classroom leading to an erupting of chatter from the students as they discussed the possibility openly; “Oh! Do you think they are secretly dating?! Yes, of course. Why else would they agree to do this?”

Hermione stares in horror at the scene taking place before her. Before she could call for quiet or think of her next move they heard the booming sound of the first break bell. The class automatically breaks into movement to pack up their things and get to their friends out in the hallway.

Before long, the room is empty but Draco and Hermione are rooted in the same place. They turn to look at each other. Draco looks slightly irritated, sighs deeply and says, “The quote is actually: ‘'The lady doth protest too much, methinks’”.

Hermione let her face drop into her hand, “Misquoted Shakespeare is the least of our worries right now”

~~~

The next day, Draco and Hermione joined the rest of the professors at the long table at the back of the hall for breakfast. Hermione felt thrilled to be back in the familiar bubble of the Great Hall. Although this time she had a slightly different perspective. As she looked down over the four tables stretched out in front of her, she noticed that the students didn't look like they were divided by houses from here. It just looked like a room full of students; many of which walked freely over to other house’s tables to eat with friends or ask for notes or to simply hang about and have a chat. 

She noticed that the table with the least traffic was Slytherin. Slytherin was also the house with a slightly smaller number of students. Hermione’s eyes sought out the house points hourglass across from her. Though they were only 1 month into the school year, Slytherin was already dead last by a large margin. After the war, Hermione heard that parents heavily suggested their kids ask the sorting hat to place them in any house but Slytherin because of its association of being the Death Eater recruitment pool. 

The Death Eaters were not the threat that they once were, but there was still a lot of paranoia in the community about them. Several members had slipped seamlessly back into hiding the moment of Voldemort’s defeat. As this was the second fall of Voldemort with largely the same following, the Death Eaters were now well practiced at covering their tracks. They had learned from their past mistakes that made them easy to catch the first time around. Not this time though. Harry, Ron and Hermione had spent many sleepless nights being consulted by the ministry to help catch everyone with the intel they had gathered to varying degrees of success. 

With a new resolve she turned to Draco who was picking at his food beside her. They hadn’t chosen to sit together but found that teachers get their seats assigned to them with their name tags emblazoned on the table just above their plates.

“Draco,” she said deliberately, the feel of his name still not quite natural yet. “Since our next class isn’t until Monday, I was thinking we take the rest of the week to rethink the syllabus in light of yesterday’s class..” Hermione just knew that if they hit the books, they could come up with a solution to never let the class run away from them like that again.

The Unity class takes place on Monday and Wednesday mornings right before the first break of the day. Their first day of class yesterday fell on a Wednesday and they had the rest of the week to game plan.

She was bracing herself for Draco to say no or come up with some snarky remark or something, but he just said, “Yes, I think that’s exactly what we need.” Before abandoning his half eaten plate and striding off without another word. 

~~~

That afternoon found Draco and Hermione in the study area of the common room they shared. Just past the entrance of the room there was a large wooden table in front of the bookshelves that lined the walls. They were sitting at opposite ends of the table, looking down at the pile of books and parchments strewn between them. They were pouring over past syllabi from other teachers and anything they could find about the four founders of Hogwarts.

They had also been working in complete and utter silence for the past 45 minutes.

Hermione had tried to immerse herself in reading her heavy tome of a book, but couldn't concentrate. What she wanted to do was discuss how off the rails their first class had gone. She let herself blurt out what she’d been thinking all day; “We probably should have discussed how to handle it if the students asked those kinds of questions.” she said and was gratified to see that Draco jumped a bit at the sudden sound of her voice.

He composed himself quickly, “No use thinking about it after the fact, now is there?” I’m sure the rumours will die down in a couple days, it's no big deal.” 

“What did they mean by us being photographed in Berlin over the holidays?” Hermione said, letting another thought out that had been bothering her since she heard it.

“I’m sure I don’t have the faintest clue.” Draco said, not looking up from the pad of paper he was scrawling on.

He then glanced up at her across the table, “Did you hear Professor Trelawney comparing our birth charts and claiming that “our stars are entangled”?” he said with a smirk. “I overheard her and a gaggle of girls at dinner last night.”

Hermione felt the heat rise to her face. “No one believes that batty old cow anyways,” she muttered.

Draco paused his writing to stare at her in utter shock, “Did you just insult a professor?” 

“I didn’t realize I had said that out loud.” she said faintly.

Draco laughed suddenly and it was so odd. He had a nice laugh when it was free from malice and bitterness. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

“What? Opinions?” Hermione huffed.

“Any form of personality actually.” He said, still smiling.

Hermione threw a crumpled piece of parchment at him. It hit him on the chest and rolled onto his lap. Draco grabbed it and tossed it into the fire across the room.

“These teenagers are really giving us a run for our money.” Hermione muttered into the direction of the fire, watching the parchment burn away.

“I think they’re pretty insolent if you ask me. Say what you will about our school days but we had respect for our professors at least.” Draco said as he leaned back in his chair and stretched.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at that. “Well we’re not really typical professors, are we? We’re barely any older than them at all. Most of them remember being school mates with us even if they were several years younger. I actually had the student’s profiles all laid out in the prep booklet I made while doing research for the class. I sent you a copy last week, did you read it?”

“I gave it a bit of a look through, yes…” Draco said unconvincingly 

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Well to give you a refresher... most of the class is aged 17 to 18. They are a bit older, whether it’s because they weren't allowed to come to school the year the Death Eaters were in charge or the gap year the school needed to rebuild. We have a lot of kids who saw the worst days first hand before returning to a sense of normalcy at Hogwarts for their N.E.W.T.S.”

Hermione kept turning the page on the book she was thumbing through, “I was one of them. I came back with Ginny and Lavender to finish up our 7th year.”

“Yea, I think I read about that in the paper.” Draco said lightly.

She sighed heavily and kept her eyes down on her book, “and now here we are out of the blue asking these same students to forget the times that you kept calling me mudblood” she kept her tone light, but thought she saw Draco flinch out of the corner of her eye. 

“What?” Hermione turned her full attention on him to take in his expression. He looked like he was in genuine pain as he raked his fingers harshly through his hair. 

“Don’t say that. Not even in jest like that. It’s not funny”

“Well this is new” Hermione scoffed. “I couldn’t get you to stop calling me that no so long ago.”

“A lot can change in three years.”

“Like what?.” She said letting her heavy book fall shut with a loud thud.

Draco met her eyes rigidly but with intent; there was no use trying to avoid this conversation. 

“I wouldn’t call you that now.” he said quietly.

“Well that is good to know, but what’s changed?” Hermione was not going to make this easy on him.

Draco looked down at his parchment where he started to write something. Although Hermione was fairly certain he was just scribbling nonsense. 

“Let’s just say that I don’t keep the same company I used to associate myself with and leave it at that, okay?” He finally said. 

Hermione let it go. She knew that he had testified against Snape at his posthumous trial along with several other Death Eaters. That couldn’t have been easy. The silence continued to settle like dust between them. 

It was Draco’s turn to be uncomfortable with the silence, “What? You think I’m lying?” 

Hermione refused to acknowledge his accusatory tone. “No. What I was thinking is, that a war is traumatizing...no matter what side you are on. These students are scarred and stressed that they've lost a year to it.

Hermione stood and went over to the closest bookshelf. “What they're looking for is a distraction to get their mind off of it.” she said to the books as if just a glance was all it took for them to tell her the answer.

Draco suddenly sat up, “the last time we were distracted from all the gloom and doom was during the Yule Ball.” 

“Are you saying we should throw a party?” Hermione snorted as she turned back towards him. “Shall we just dance all our problems away?”

“I'm being absolutely serious.” Draco said. He got up on his feet and started pacing as the idea took shape; “a portion of the problem here is social, not intellectual. So if we can get these students in more social situations where they can get to know each other, we have more of a chance to get them mingling”

Hermione put her initial aversion to the idea aside to think about it critically, “Well who’s to say they won't fall into their own cliques when they get to the ball? We can't force them to mingle”

Draco grinned like a mad Cheshire cat, “They're our students we can order them about however we please.” He reached for his pad of parchment and ripped the first sheet off and threw it aside. Hermione took a quick look before he had completely crumpled it; it was covered in doodles. Draco placed a quick quotes quill onto the fresh page and it began scribbling while he spoke.

Draco kept pacing as he announced, “The Unity Ball will be for students 4th year and up. We’ll make it mandatory for our class to attend with someone from a different house than their own as their date. The rest of the attendees don’t have to abide by this rule... but they will get house points if they do.”

“Oh.” Hermione said, realizing now where he was going with this. “Slytherin has the least amount of house points! They’ll definitely seize this opportunity to try to get ahead!” 

Draco nodded at her for catching on and looked down at the parchment that was now filled with the Unity Ball proposal. 

“Now, let's call a staff meeting.”


End file.
